Lawsuit alleges Turkia Mullin wanted $170k in regulated funds diverted to non-profit that paid her

DETROIT (WXYZ) - A former Wayne County economic development employee who worked for Turkia Mullin says he was pressured to funnel money meant for a federal program into a non-profit fund that, in part, paid Mullin $75,000 in salary.

The lawsuit was filed today in Wayne County Circuit Court by Taylor Segue III, a senior executive project manager for the county's Economic Development Growth Engine, who worked for Mullin from September 2009 until he was terminated in April 2011.

Segue says he was informed in July 2010 that several local banks held funds that were generated by federal programs. Segue says he told Mullin the funds needed to be used to pay federally mandated audits and other administrative expenses. According to the lawsuit, Mullin told Segue to transfer the funds to the Wayne County Business Development Corporation, a non-profit fund that paid Mullin $75,000 in addition to her $200,000 county salary. The fund also paid for trade missions for Mullin and others to places like France, Italy and China.

Segue says he told Mullin that diverting the funds would be "improper and illegal."

He says he was especially troubled after viewing an October 2010 WXYZ-TV investigative report that revealed the fund's activities were paid for by corporations and and political contributors.

Segue says he became concerned because the "politicians utilizing (the fund) did not have to account to the taxpayers" about how that money was spent. He says he was terminated in April of this year after refusing to transfer the funds to the non-profit.

A spokesman for Detroit Metro Airport, where Mullin is CEO, said he was told by Mullin that the lawsuit was evidence of a "disgruntled former employee" and described the allegations as "100% false."

At the Airport Board meeting where Mullin's future is being discusses, her attorney Ray Sterling also said the lawsuit was filed by a "disgruntled employee."

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